


'In Vino Veritas'

by DixieDale



Category: Garrison's Gorillas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-30
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-07-20 17:06:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16141673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DixieDale/pseuds/DixieDale
Summary: Early war years - four guys, four gals, a night out on the town.  What could go wrong? Well . . .  Maybe just one of those little things that could happen to anyone.  Or at least, that's what the guys told Garrison.





	'In Vino Veritas'

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Obviously do NOT try this at home! This is the kind of thing that is amusing (if that) only in fiction, not in reality.

Daisy was an attractive, hard-working woman of about twenty-five, worked in a little shop over on Milford Street owned by her aunt; she was a good sport, easy to talk to, and had more than a little knowledge of how men acted when they were just looking for a good time. Well, that's all she was looking for, too, anymore. She'd been married and had no intention of ever making that mistake again; didn't even want a steady man friend, having had one of those as well, remembering it was 'like being married but without the financial benefits'. No, a good time, a few laughs, just every once in a while, that was the goal.

Therefore, she didn't expect any more than that when an old friend, Marie, suggested she join her and ANOTHER couple of friends, Janine and Chloe, to share an evening out with "these two really fun guys, Casino and Goniff, I met last month, and a couple of THEIR friends", anything other than a few hours of congenial companionship. And it started out alright, an evening of joking and laughing and a few drinks, certainly, and if it had continued in that vein, she'd never have started thinking about her dear old mum, and lost her cool. AND the guys probably wouldn't have come down with that nasty case of the sniffles, and . . . 

Well, it went something like this.

Four guys, stationed down south somewhere. Different as night and day, they were, but all attractive in their own way. One was a tall Italian sort, rather superior, older than the others. Another was young, not a boy, but certainly younger than the rest - they called him Chief. Dark he was, as much as the Italian who they seemed to call Actor. The third, Casino, well, he was dark as well, but more muscular than the rest, and Goniff? He was a short slender fellow, pale blond hair and blue eyes. 

Daisy ended up with Goniff; Marie and Chief were sitting together to the right. Janine drew Casino and Chloe settled down beside Actor. It was all congenial for about the first hour, then Daisy could feel it start to unravel.

Maybe this WAS just a bit of fun, and no one was about to go falling in love or anything. But it DID matter that the guys didn't seem to be focusing on the girls, not the way they should. Well, except for Casino, who had Janine on his knee, his arm around her waist, and her giggling away like she had a tendency to do. What it came down to, Daisy thought, was what her old mum used to tell her. "Daisy, girl, you get a few drinks into a man and, as long as YOU stay clear-headed and know what you're about, you'll pick up on some things you might not see otherwise. Saw it in a book once, 'in vino veritas', 'in wine there is truth'." Yes, those few drinks the guys had had while she'd nursed just the one, it had let her see quite a few things, and she wasn't all that pleased, either.

Why, here was the blond, seeming to be having a good time with her, joking and teasing and ever so attentive, but all of a sudden Daisy would see his eyes drift away from her, over to the clock on the wall, and it was as if his mind was somewhere else, and his eyes would go all wistful as anything. He'd catch himself, and bring a smile back to his face and go back to chatting her up properly. Then, all of a sudden he'd get distracted again and be staring off at that clock, or start telling her about this girl back where they were based, "she 'as red 'air, too, though darker than yours," telling about her singing, or her garden or cooking or whatever. It was purely exasperating! Surely he realized you didn't go bragging on one woman when you were supposed to be pleasing another!

The young one, he was extra quiet, and that wouldn't have been a problem; some men just were; Daisy wasn't a chatterbox herself. But did he have to keep glancing over at Janine and the one called Casino? It was almost like he was jealous! Daisy could see the other women could see it too, and before long Marie and Janine excused themselves to go to the loo, and when they got back, they casually switched seats. Casino looked a little startled, but laughed and said he was fine with the notion of musical chairs, "or maybe musical knees!". But Chief barely seemed to notice that Janine now was sitting next to him, hardly looking at her, kept glancing over at the loud, widely-grinning man with Marie perched beside him. They all found it more than a little puzzling that making the swap hadn't changed that look Casino and now Marie were getting! Just odd, it was! Why, you'd almost think . . .!

Actor was gracious enough to Chloe and the rest of them, but detached, obviously just waiting out the time, and when the bartender came over to tell him he had a phone call, he'd departed with every sign of eagerness. He came back to offer a very smooth, very polished apology for having to cut his stay short, attempting to make amends by leaving a couple of bills tucked into Chloe's waistband. From the look on the pretty brunette's face, it hadn't helped much with her feeling of rejection, not nearly as much as Casino's laughing and inviting her over to sit on his OTHER knee, telling her he had more than enough room for both of them! "Hell, there's more than enough for all a you, if it comes down to it!"

All four women just rolled their eyes at that bit of braggadocio. Well, his knees might be fine for Chloe and Marie, but Janine might as well have been sitting next to a statue, one with an increasingly sullen glare. As for Daisy, she was getting fed up with the blond. Well, she was a redhead too, and more than a little pretty, she'd been told, and she didn't like being ignored by someone who, more and more, couldn't hide he was wishing he was with a DIFFERENT redhead! These guys could stand a good lesson, in her opinion!

Another trip to the loo, this time by all four women, led to a fast conversation with Dennis, the bartender, who, after Chloe had handed over one of those bills Actor had left with her, grinned conspiratorially and nodded his agreement. By the time another hour had rolled around, all three men were, if not drunk, then rapidly getting there.

At a giggling suggestion whispered in three different ears, a suggestion accepted with great enthusiasm by Casino, with resignation, maybe even a little reluctance by the other two, they left and eventually made their wavering way up the stairs to those rooms on the third floor of that cheap hotel the men were staying at.

"Cheap", the one called Casino was explaining, "cause Beautiful had someplace better to stay! When he's with us, it tends to be a lot higher on the hog.". The confirmation that one of the four men had intended to bail all along only made the women nod to each other in determination. The giggles and whispers and outright laughs rang through the hall from the women and Casino, only Chief and Goniff seeming a little less overjoyed at the upcoming prospect. Noticing that, Casino shrugged and proclaimed to all and sundry, "hell, babes, don't worry! They aint in the mood, I can handle all of you, no sweat!" That had gotten a long shared look of determination from the women.

It hadn't taken too much encouragement for them to end up in one room, "just for one last little drinky-poo?" Marie pulled the bottle out of her oversized purse and handed it around. If the women had only gone through the motions of drinking, the guys didn't catch on. They were all in one room for that drink; that's where they all ended up, in just that one room, as their senses departed under that special little addition the bartender had been so kind to provide.

There was still a lot of giggling and whispering, as the women determined just what would best suit, just how to manage this little scene, which man would receive the sartorial attentions of which woman, just what message would be sent (if not necessarily received, considering how thick they'd proven themselves this evening). When they were finished, when the pile of clothes in the corner was complete, they looked at their erstwhile companions for the evening, then at each other, and the laughter started anew. Pausing only to tack a note to the outside of the door, they fled down the wooden stairs and into the night, laughter trailing behind them.

It was ten o'clock in the morning, the sharp chill of the night only barely receding. When a crisp knock at the door got no response at the first room, registered to Chief, a frowning Actor tried the knob. Locked, but he had some little skill in such matters, especially with such poor excuses for locks as these. The room was empty, and his frown grew deeper. The others were supposed to join him two hours ago, and he didn't appreciate having to come looking for his errant teammates. The second room, supposedly Goniff's, proved no different, and now he was starting to feel a touch of worry along with the annoyance. The third room, however, ah, that was a different story. The note on the door warned him, or at least should have, perhaps. "Tell them next time they want to play, they need to pay proper attention to the rules of the game! And you too, you rat!!!" It was signed "The Girls"

He didn't even bother to knock, just fiddled the lock and opened the door. For someone as set on maintaining his dignity as he usually was, the slack-jawed look of astonishment was a rarity, as well as being highly unbecoming. Still, as he explained to Garrison later, "one could hardly blame me, Craig. It was really quite unexpected! Quite an eye-opening sight, I assure you. The ladies had been quite, um, imaginative, you see, though causing them no harm and leaving them in no real discomfort, other than the chill, of course. For some reason, Goniff was left facing the wall, where the only thing in his line of vision was a clock. Casino was positioned staring into a mirror; well, really at a small table with a collection of all the mirrors from all three rooms, all facing him. And Chief? I'm not sure of the underlying intent there; I only know he was off to the side, where he would have been unable to see anything or anyone except Casino."

It was an interesting tableau, and the only words he could think of, remembering the words on that note, were "as Plato once wrote, 'You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation'." 

"Ruddy 'ell, Actor! This aint no time for a philosophy lesson! Just shut up and untie us! We're freezing our ruddy balls off 'ere!" Actor managed to tear his gaze away from unclad bodies and their highly undignified positions and got them untied, watched in some bemusement as they pawed through that stack of discarded clothing to come up with their own, all without even glancing at each other.

"Should I ask . . .?" he began, only to get glares from all three of the men.

"No, I rather thought not." 

It was at the bottom of the stack they found the second note from their companions from the night before, issuing some sound advice about acceptable behavior when they were out on a date. It was specific enough, and pointed enough that each of them, all FOUR of them had winced, even Casino, who'd heard a few telling points about having too lofty an opinion of himself and biting off more than he could chew. He didn't think that was very fair, though; they hadn't even given him a chance to prove otherwise!


End file.
